You can expect a lot more of this kind of thing as more newspapers spiral around the drain before they go down.

Not only has technology changed, but most newspapers insist on pushing a biased political agenda that automatically alienates about half of their prospective customers. I stopped reading newspapers about a decade ago and stopped watching television about five years ago. I don't need elite journalists telling me what to think. I'll end this here, as this is not really the place for such a discussion.

canon rumors FORUM

We can't have video everywhere, stills will still be relevant, but the future is motion and you need to change to accommodate and deliver, and being able to do hybrid shooting with video capable stills cameras has really allowed a lot of that to happen rather seamlessly, even though not many things in technique/theory carry over.And what the... Sun Times just shot themselves in the foot; their understanding of video being more relevant than photos right there is admitting to the world that their own NEWSPAPER business is irrelevant, why even bother with a business that admits themselves that they deserve no place in this age!?!?

Yeah a P&S or not-even-dedicated-for-photos iPhone can get a fine shot, cover an event whatever. But no manual controls, forget about low light, any fast action, and surely miss not able to go any wider or longer.The reporters and journalists have the advantage of being able to go places and meet people the average Joe can't, but the average Joe would be using nicer cameras more often than these folk who would be bringing their iPhones specifically for shoots. Doubt they'll get anything that's any better or any more relevant than what that average Joe is going to capture... What the Paper is doing though I think, is trying to get themselves to survive on user submitted photos, and if their own force uses iPhones then well, everyone's on par, so you can never tell if the shot came from one of their "iPhoneographers" or a local someone who was on scene.Won't win any puliterzers maybe, but the internet can't stop buzzing with the ever tiring "wow, shot with a phone!!" tag

paul13walnut5

I'm a full-time video guy who does stills for a hobby.I appreciate that most folk using the forums are likely to be the opposite, or at least, more photography biased than video.

The two disciplines are entirely different, even if like me you produce both on the exact same kit.

When I think in stills I think composition I think how to make every frame count. In video I think in sequences. Lots of shots = good. I still think about composition, but I no longer require any one individual shot to be strong enough to tell the story all on it's own.

I am not a great one for the usual celeb pap pics in newspapers, I tend to read broadsheets, not because I am clever or want to appear clever, but am humble enough to admit that I need a clever persons help, or several perspectives from several clever people to help me understand the worlds events. Quality photojournalism completes that. I somehow understand a story better if it's told in coherent prose with an environmental portrait.

When I was a kid my dad used to buy the then new 'independent' on a Saturday, as the photo suppliement of the weeks events was second to none, mostly if not all b&w, of gritty stories told from in amongst it. I can remember the technical prowess, I can only image the personal skills, the charm, the persuasion, the conviction, the integrity to get the trust to open the doors on the view that told the story, as seen from the people who lived it.

I should'nt say this perhaps, given my current employer, but the newspapers were dumbed down in the ukby a certain Rupert Murdoch. Readers wanted tits and scandal. Quality tabloids (not an oxymoron, once) ditched the likes of John Pilger and his essays written so that the working man could understand complex battles in far away lands. Palestine. South Africa. Not page 3 and football.

But it's what folk seemed to want. Despite any claims to be the fourth estate, they have no statutory requirements other than to make money for their shareholders.

I hope all the kids thinking of studying photography note this news... I'm wouldn't tell them not to, I would just tell them to take note.

I do think it sucks. But i haven't gotten a newspaper in who knows how long. So im sure the papers are losing money like crazy. And personally i would rather read good articles that see good pictures about badly written articles.

Newspapers are dying out and closing. Print editions are disappearing. Photographers and reporters alike are losing their jobs. This has been happening to big newspapers quite regularly for the past several years.

When you have millions of people walking around with camera phones that are willing to upload photos and videos to newspapers and TV stations for free, paid photographers are going to be let go.

Can't remember the last time I bought a newspaper. I get my news (including local) on a tablet, phone or computer. I don't see newspapers being much more than a niche in a short time, not much of a future for Jimmy Olsen. Collateral damage in a changing world.

.Loss of the photo staff is one more layer of erosion of professionalism in the primary news gathering foundation.

At 1:23 AM of a recent morning, I got a "Breaking News Alert" from a local community-based "newspaper" (Web-based). The headline:

Black and White Kitten Found on Cooper Ave.

A small, fuzzy image accompanied this -- apparently meant to show a black & white kitten. The full and complete story?

"A reader sent in this photo. The kitten is currently in the care of a neighbor. Can you help find its owners?"

Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) says a huge percentage of genuine news is still gathered/generated by what they call "legacy news organizations," print newspapers, wire services, etc. That's where real, trained journalists dig out real news stories. That stuff then gets filtered down to broadcasters, aggregators, social media sites, etc., and the people reading them think they're not reading a newspaper.

CJR says, "...the fact that the overwhelming amount of actual new information originates from desiccated newspaper newsrooms is decidedly not good news for anyone."

Maybe that guy from Digital Rev can train journalists to do compelling video -- and won't we all be entertained watching what passes for news on our computer screens!

So...

No use permittingsome prophet of doomTo wipe every smile away.Come hear the music play.Life is a Cabaret, old chum,Come to the Cabaret!

Hi guys, Sympathy for the guys loosing jobs in this issue, I was in the manufacturing industry 14 years as a toolmaker, watching manufacturing disappear from the UK causing my redundancy, so been where they are, it hurts..As for news papers circling the drain, I think they have only their policies, political preferences and reporters to blame, last time I bought a paper was the day before a reporter called a friend to ask about an issue involving some of her bosses wildfowl, she, not knowing anything about said event gave the no comment response so the journalist made a story up and labeled it a quote, my friend nearly lost her job over this! Even after being notified of this situation there was no appolgy or retraction of this report! I am certain that this paper is not alone, especially after recent revelations regarding press antics.We don't need reporting like this, and the sooner papers willing to do this finish gurgling and die the better.Graham.

My sympathies are with the laid-off photogs, but I am quite certain that they were preparing for this. The news industry, both print and television, has been on a steady decline towards this for DECADES. Everyone who works in the industry knows this.

Look at the pics from the meeting. http://petapixel.com/2013/06/03/chicago-sun-times-photographers-react-and-respond-to-being-laid-off/#more-113195 This is a major newspaper in the third-largest city in the USA. (I do believe that this layoff has affected all the photogs at the other suburban papers owned by the Sun Times, as well.) It seems pretty clear that they have been using stringers (freelancers) for a while now. There will be no shortage of stringers arriving at breaking news, just as there was before. The paper will probably be hiring back its laid-off staffers on a freelance basis to do feature/editorial work as-needed.

I think the bit about finding video more important than stills is some sort of corporate BS, though. TV news organizations have been doing the same thing, cutting staff photogs (videographers) in favor of stringer video at breaking news and hiring freelancers on a daily basis. In the smaller markets, they cut staff photogs and hand the gear over to new reporters, turning them into "one man bands." So, although there isn't any shortage of news videographers, either, there definitely isn't a huge draw for them into the world of newspapers. If they are getting video, I expect they'll be getting it from whichever TV news department they've partnered up with in Chicago (I read the Trib and watch WGN, so I don't know who that is.)

I also don't know where this stuff about iphones has come from. I know somebody reported on a comment from a laid-off staffer that he expected the Sun Times to go with more reporter-generated stills, and I think that is definitely true. But I don't know why that automatically translates into iphones. More likely, they'll hand over something like a 60D plus superzoom and show them how to work it in scene/green box modes. The technical barriers to photography are falling down by the wayside. Certainly, reporter-generated images are going to lack the emotion and ingenuity of a true photojournalist. But it won't be gloom and doom, either. It isn't like the reporters are going to be developing Tri-X in their bathtubs.

The Sun-Times is going to continue to lose money and circle the drain. This is just going to add to it. But it is the same thing that has been happening for many, many years. I hope that the now-self-employed former-Sun-Times staff photographers continue to go out there and generate amazing quality images, and I'm sure they will. I also hope that they sell them to the highest bidder, and let the Sun-Times pay to get them.

canon rumors FORUM

If a reporter turned up to my door for an interview with an iPhone I'd think that he was not taking me seriously and was mocking me.

Can you imagine the reaction some serious political figure or a scientist or whatever would have when the reporter whips out his phone or whatever and snaps a quickie? Or how about fashion? Yeah? How you gonna cover that? Right! Good luck without a decent flash too.

So these journalist are gonna edit their own video? When will they have time for that?

The still image is what captures my attention in any article, online or print.